Attempts have been made to provide illuminated fishing nets, such as one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,216. This particular net is provided with a flashlight mounted to a handle portion just above the net. In use, the flashlight is used to spot or locate an animal or fish to be captured with the net. However, this type of net has found little success on the market, perhaps because it was not cost-effective, or perhaps because in order to capture fish or an animal, the light beam must be moved away from the animal or fish in order to manipulate the net into a catch position. Similar light sources are found on fishing implements in order to provide illumination for a fisherman at night. In addition, a number of fishing lures employ miniaturized light sources in order to more effectively attract fish. With respect to crabs, lobsters and the like, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,374 provides a shellfish attractant device using a green LED and attachable to a crab pot or other fishing apparatus in order to attract shellfish.
With respect to novelty items and toys, children on a beach enjoy chasing and catching beach crabs with flashlights and hand-held nets. In fact, along almost any recreational beach, parents with children may be found chasing crabs with nets and flashlights at night. However, when a crab is illuminated with white light, particularly a bright light such as a flashlight necessary to spot the crabs, an alarm reaction is provoked in the crab, resulting in the crab scurrying or swimming away. Such an alarm reaction in the crab is problematic for children, or those otherwise hunting crabs for a food source or other reasons.
In addition to the foregoing, parents are always concerned about the whereabouts of their children, particularly at night. Where an easily-identifiable marker is provided that the children will play with, and particularly adapted for use at night, parents will be more comfortable allowing their children to play along a beach at night generally unsupervised but within sight of the marker. In addition, related uses for an illuminated device of the instant invention may be a warning device for a bicyclist wherein an illuminated wand may be mounted to the bicycle or worn by a bicyclist so as to be visible from at least sides and from a rear of a bicycle, or a walking stick or cane carried by a pedestrian who walks at night so as to be viewable from the front, sides and rear.
In accordance with the foregoing, it is one object of the invention to provide a combined crab net and light source that minimizes the alarm reaction in crabs. Is another object of the invention to provide, in general, a novelty, marker or warning device comprising a self-powered transparent or translucent member that may be in a tubular or shaft-like form configured into any shape. It is yet another object of the invention to provide a fish-attracting light source. Other objects of the invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following specification.